


My Best Friend

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Cheating, F/M, Female Stiles Stilinski, Getting Together, Supernatural Elements, Werewolf Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29016810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: Scott makes a very wrong assumption and decides that his girlfriend, Stiles, should get a taste of her own medicine.The problem being, however, that Stiles never cheated on him with Derek Hale.
Relationships: Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 17
Kudos: 268





	My Best Friend

Both Derek and Peter look up when Stiles bursts into the library, but neither are particularly surprised to see her there.

Stiles has been a fixture in the Hale house since she was a baby. With John being the Sheriff, Claudia being an EMT and neither with any family to speak of to help out, Talia had offered to take care of her friend's child. Stiles had practically grown up with them, and she even had her own key. Indeed, Stiles even brought some much-needed chaotic energy into the otherwise neutral quiet of the Hale house. 

Stiles, today, doesn't look like she's in for a friendly visit. There's no reason to be - her and Derek drove back from university together two days ago and she had told them she'd planned on catching up with her parents. She lobs the keys to Derek's Camaro to him and he catches hem easily, but cocks his head in confusion. 

"My Jeep can't reach a hundred miles on the highway." She says flatly. "So I need you to drive."

Derek and Peter are both very protective of their cars - the Camaro and Shelby respectively - so Derek just stands up, putting his book down on the desk, and walking over to her. "Where were you thinking?"

"Anywhere." She barks out. "Just somewhere you can speed."

Peter waves benignly at them as they leave, going back to his old tome. 

At the door, as Derek pulls on his boots and shrugs on a jacket, he decides to speak. "What did Scott do this time?"

"Allison."

He does a double take, but Stiles continues to stare blankly ahead in fury. "Shit."

"Are we gonna talk, or are you gonna drive?" She snaps. 

He just nods, leading her outside and getting in the car. 

An hour and some into the ride, with Derek clipping down the road at eighty, Stiles reaches over and lays her hand over his on the stick shift. 

"I'm sorry." She says, soft and quiet. "I'm sorry I was nasty to you."

"It's okay." He thumbs over the edge of her palm. "I'll listen if you want."

"He thought I was cheating on him with you, so he decided to do the same." Stiles snorts derisively. "I'm out of town for two months and he fucking- Ugh."

He adjusts his hand so her fingers fall between his. "I thought he knew about me?"

"He did!" She bursts out. "I told him when we started being friends about my bestie in university. I would mention you to him when he'd ask about who I was texting, or who I had been on the phone with."

"Odd." 

"Not really." She spits. "Apparently I can't be best friends with a hot guy - I've got to be fucking around."

"Did you talk with him about it?"

"Yeah, I confronted him." Her nails bite into the leather of the stick shift, her lips thinning as she bars her teeth at a memory. "I asked him what the fuck he thought he was doing and he said that he was getting even. He said that he wasn't stupid, that I wasn't subtle about how I used university as a ruse to move in with the guy I'd been cheating on him with all summer."

"Wait, he thought we were-" She nods. "For that long?"

"Apparently. Don't know why he didn't say shit for the four fucking months you were in Beacon Hills and we were hanging out together." She hisses. "Probably just waiting for a chance to do it."

He mulls over the new information. "You told me he'd been hanging out with that Theo kid - you think he's got anything to do with this?"

"He's known Theo for eight months - I've been his girlfriend for two years." She snaps. "If he did, I'm even more disgusted."

He winced. It hadn't been his intention to make it worse. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Nothing. I already told him to pound salt." 

"Really?"

"I'm not going to take getting fucked around on lying down, Der."

"I didn't say you should."

"It wasn't like it was just a rumour anyway. I saw them myself at a gas station. I was gassing the Jeep and saw him kiss her as he was gassing his bike."

"I'm sorry. That's rough."

She shrugs. "I went home and stewed about it, but eventually Dad told me I needed to work off the excess energy. Mom didn't really want me to go, but she let me when I told her I was just going over to your place and that I wouldn't be driving compromised in town."

He brushes his thumb over hers again, starting up a rhythm. "I'm glad you came to me. God knows after how messy my break up with Paige was, I can at least return the favour."

That makes her chuckle. "Yeah, talk about a clusterfuck."

He smiles, drawing a smile out from her too. She's always loved his bunny teeth, even in her lowest moments. "So, we're headed north right now - Anywhere you wanted to go specifically?"

"Is there a Point around here somewhere? Maybe a waterfall?"

He hands her his phone, thumbing Google Maps open. If he weren't a werewolf, she'd probably chastise him for distracted driving. "Take a look."

"Go generous with your data." She smirks, taking the device and playing around on it for a few minutes in concentrated silence. "Found one. Little ways up, but it has a cliff. Just a little local place."

"Sounds good. Hit go."

She does and puts the phone into a cupholder. 

The place Stiles found it little more than a dirt parking lot overlooking a forest with a map board highlighting some trails. There's no one there when they arrive, so Derek parks as close to the view as he can. They get out and Derek takes up a perch on the warm hood while Stiles paces back and forth, having come back around to being angry again. 

"You know what I don't get the most?" She says, Nails biting into the palms of her hands as she moves. "Why he thought this would be the best way to go about it? Like, okay fine, he's an inattentive idiot who never realized the Derek I always talked about was you, and it would seem pretty suspicious that I cozy up to an older guy over the summer and I'm suddenly living with him when I go off to uni because surprise! we both go to the same school. But why in the name of Fursuit Jesus did he think to cheat back?"

"Fursuit Jesus?" He murmurs, but she ignores him. 

"Like, how is that better? Why didn't he just talk to me, explain his feelings and just ask me what I was doing? No, instead, he waits until I'm in Los Angeles with you and hooks up with the new girl in town. I don't even know if she knows about me, Der!"

"I don't know." He answers. "I'd like to think she doesn't, but I don't know her, or what Scott told her."

"Even breaking up over the phone with me would have been better than this."

He sighs and drops the leg he'd had up on the hood down onto the fender. He opens his legs and holds out a hand, which stops her in her tracks. 

"Der?"

"C'mon."

She takes his hand and he pulls her into him, sitting between his splayed thighs and her legs pulled over his left one. He hugs her to him, arms loosely wrapped around her waist. 

"It's okay to cry, you know. I'll hold you through it."

"I don't want to cry. I want to punch him in the face." She snarls, but folds in on him and lets him tuck her head under his chin. She's practically vibrating, dozens of emotions trapped under a skin that's barely enough to contain her on a regular day. 

"Just because you cry now doesn't mean you can't punch him later." He reasons. "I'll even do it for you, if you want to see him go flying."

Her laugh breaks in the middle, and he can feel the moment she gives up trying to stop the tears. "I'd like that."

| | | 

He's been awake for about an hour, idly watching the sunrise and listening to her steady breathing and heartbeat. It's very nearly meditation, his mind empty and serene. This always happens when she has a crisis like this - last night was far from the first night he's spent on the hood of his car, and it probably won't be the last. 

She stirs about twenty minutes after the sun first hits her face. She groans, stretching her arm out from under her, where it was bunched against his chest. When she touches the dew-covered cool metal of the Camaro's hood, she jolts, waking up fully. 

"Aww, shit." She props herself up, looking around and taking in where they're at. It really is a middle-of-nowhere place, enough so that he's not even heard traffic since he shut off the Camaro's engine. "Fuck, why did you stay here all night?"

"You fell asleep."

"Yeah, dingus, you could have just put me in the back seat." She's not really upset with him - he can smell the endearment she feels. She's always adored him taking care of her, it's half the reason she even agreed to move in with him when they both went to LA. That, and she didn't mind not having to buy food or pay rent. 

"You would have woken up. Plus, you weren't restless like you normally are." 

She can't help the smile that comes to her lips. "Sappywolf."

He sits up, bringing her with him. "Laura would disagree."

"Sure, but that's just because you don't listen to her. Cora and Malia know better." She teases. 

"I'm gonna lose my reputation if you keep this up."

"Alas poor Yorick." She rolls her eyes.

"Oh, so I'm a jester now?"

"You are pretty funny."

He snorts, leaning back on his hands. He's not nearly as affected by the dawn chill as she is, and she has his jacket on anyway.

She studies him as he does so, noting the lines of his body she's already familiar with. Even before moving in together and all the accidental nudity that involves, she'd watched him grow up, turn from a boy to a man right before her eyes. Something must come to her mind, because she twitches. 

"Hey, Der?"

"Hmm?"

"One of the things Scott said when I confronted him was that it was really obvious you were in love with me." She hesitates, but doesn't take her eyes off him. "Do you?"

He huffs a laugh. "Of course I love you, Stiles."

"You- You _do_?" She stares at him like he's a new person.

He sits forward, getting back into her personal space. "Let me put it this way; I've loved you as long as I can remember, from the very first memory of watching you giggle when I bared my fangs at you as a toddler. I love everything about you - you're my best friend. The kind of affection I feel for you, that feeling that you're just a part of me now, isn't ever going to change."

"Would you-" She makes a vague gesture, "-if I let you?"

He smirks, brushing his nose against hers. "Stiles, I'll be at your wedding whether I'm your groom or your Maid of Honour."

A laughs breaks free from her, her fingertips stroking along the line of his stubble. "Would you want to try? With me?"

It's his turn to hesitate. "If you want a rebound, you'll have to go elsewhere. I'm not good at one-night stands anyway, let alone with you. If we did, I'd be all in, and I'd expect you to be too."

Her exhale is shaky, and she closes her eyes. "Can I have some time?"

He snorts. "Yeah, like I'm going anywhere."

| | | 

He drops her back off at home, promising to bring her Jeep back with Peter later in the afternoon. 

When he gets home, he immediately goes and showers, changing clothes and going downstairs to have breakfast with his family. Peter, next to him, raises an eyebrow but doesn't ask. 

"Stiles?!" Malia skids around the doorframe, frowning when it's just her normal family. "Where's she at? I can smell her and her Jeep's in the driveway."

"We went for a drive last night." Derek answers her. "Peter and I are going to take it back this afternoon."

Peter, who had not been informed about that, leans back in his chair with a shrug. It saves him the trouble of having to corner his nephew and get an answer later. 

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"She just wanted to do for a drive. We were out late, so I just dropped her off at home to sleep."

"As long as she's okay." Malia sits down next to Cora, across the table from Derek and Peter. Jason, Derek's father, just glances knowingly at his son, then goes back tot he newspaper in his hands.

Talia, Laura and their live-in housekeeper Amanda are in the kitchen bustling around. Normally, it was Derek in the kitchen with them, but since he's been gone, Laura's taken up the gauntlet. Laura's husband Aiden is in there too, likely being more of a hindrance than a help. Aiden never really outgrew being a pup, but it'll make him a good father for the baby him and Laura are planning on. 

Derek's observing his family idly when the thought occurs to him. "Hey, Malia?"

Malia slides over in her chair just enough to let the sleepy Cora, who was leaning on her, fall out of her chair. "What's up?"

"You know anything about a girl named Allison?"

"Allison?"

"Yeah. Stiles said Scott's become friends with her."

"Oh, yeah. Allison Argent. Her father's a licensed hunter."

"He came and introduced himself in August when you were with the Stilinskis in San Diego." Peter pipes up. "He's from an old guard family and wanted to get Talia's permission to move in. Offered a silver bullet and everything to seal an alliance."

Malia nods. "As far as I know, Allison's trained, but she doesn't hunt."

"Chris runs the new gun shop and indoor range." Peter adds. "Very pleasant."

"Why the interest in Allison?" Malia cocks her head. "Is Stiles jealous or something?"

"You know Stiles, she doesn't get jealous." He hums noncommittally. "I was just curious. Stiles mentioned that Scott's talked about her a lot, and you know that pretty much all the friends Scott does have he got through Stiles."

Before Stiles, neither Cora or Malia even knew Scott's name, and with them had come Malia's friends Isaac and Kira and Cora's frenemy relationship with Lydia. Erica and Boyd had fallen in somewhere along the lines after Stiles got Talia to bite Erica after a seizure nearly killed her. Once Stiles had picked up Scott in high school, he'd fallen into that group too.

Cora peels herself off the floor with an annoyed grunt. "Lydia thinks they're fucking."

Malia makes an affronted noise. "Wait, really?"

"Mmm-hmm." Cora lays her head down on the table. "I said Scott would have to be stupid - too many Hales in this town to get away with that."

"I'm gonna find out." Malia resolves. 

Derek has to suppress a grin, and it gets even harder with the side-eye Peter gives him. 

* * *

When their Reading Week is over, Derek and Stiles drove back to Los Angeles without incident. Derek kept the updates he was getting from his cousin to himself, mostly just happy to see Stiles immerse herself back in her school work and gradually forget that Scott McCall ever held her heart. 

It's halfway through November when Stiles decides that, yes, she wants Derek, and both of them nearly miss making deadlines, instead christening every part of the apartment they could. The jokes about _werewolf stamina_ tapered off after he put it on display for her, especially the day after when she was having trouble walking and the bruises and beard burn on her thighs made it hard to sit down. 

When they come home for Christmas break, they're very much together, and their scents are so entwined it's impossible to tell them apart. They spent the first week at her family's house, and when Stiles told her parents they were officially dating, Claudia pulled out a fifty and handed it to an unaccountably smug John. 

"You bet on my relationship status?" Stiles blurted, indignant. 

"Talia owes Peter too, if it makes you feel better." John commented, unapologetic. 

"I hate you both."

"No you don't." John smiled brightly, ruffling her hair. "Besides, it's nice to see you happy."

The week at the Stilinski house is perfectly pleasant - it's when they return to the Hale house that it all goes to hell. 

| | | 

"Stiles, Derek," Peter greets, a slightly-too-sharp grin on his lips, "welcome home."

"Oh no." Stiles narrows her eyes. "What happened?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're referring to." Peter's grin widens and Stiles pushes passed him into the house, leaving the two wolves to get their bags. From the driveway, they can hear her outburst. "You did _what_?!"

"He was cheating on you!" Malia yells back, equally as loud. "I couldn't let that shit go!"

"You should go rescue your cousin." Peter says idly. 

"She's your daughter."

"Yes, and I paid bail accordingly." 

He rushes into the house, finding Malia sitting on the couch with Cora, both women with their arms crossed over their chests defensively. Stiles has her hands on her hips, staring down at them with an expression halfway between fury and appreciation. 

"What did they do?" He asks, standing between his girlfriend and his younger sister and cousin. The last thing he needs is for Stiles to snap and strange them. 

"They assaulted Scott!" Stiles bursts out. 

"Please, it wasn't even that serious." Cora huffs. "We barely touched him."

"His mom's a nurse, I'm not even sure what you're so upset about." Malia rolls her eyes. 

"What bones did you break?" He sighs. 

"None." Malia replies smugly. "They were only fractured."

"The fractures are even in good places for casts." Cora adds. "He would have been in a lot more trouble if we'd have broken his ribs."

"You can't just go around _attacking_ people!"

"We didn't!" Malia argues. "It was very, very deliberate, and only him."

"We didn't even do Allison, despite the fact she kept seeing him even after she found out she'd started dating him while you two were together." Cora raises her chin. "You're also at fault - you never told us that you broke up. We assumed you were still together when we found out."

"I didn't expect you to _break an arm and a leg_." Stiles snaps. 

"Fracture." Malia corrects. "Besides, Dad paid for the hospital bills and Mrs. McCall dropped the charges. All done."

Stiles meets Derek's gaze, at a loss for words. "I'm gonna lose it."

Derek doesn't really have anything to counterbalance their argument - he himself was prepared to knock Scott unconscious, Stiles just never gave him the go-ahead. 

Thankfully, Talia steps in, handing Stiles a rum and coke, directing her to sit on the couch. Derek sits next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Stiles, you've been around wolves long enough to understand that such retribution was necessary." She holds up a hand to halt Stiles' objection. "I agree that they took it too far, but Scott is recovering and all his medical expenses are paid for. Your own father convinced Mrs. McCall to drop the charges, and Scott declined to charge them of his own accord. Even before your relationship with Derek, you were very much a part of this pack."

"My-" She turns to him. "Did you tell them?"

"We can smell it." Talia interjects. 

"Like, us, uh-"

"Not presently." Talia's smirk is a little crooked. "But I presume you share a bed and clothes, so you smell nearly identical. Were you a wolf yourself, you wouldn't be able to distinguish Jason and I, or Laura and Aiden."

She nods uncomfortably. 

"It's not much of a change, I assure you." Talia's smirk softens to a smile. "You've always smelt like Derek, and Derek like you. It was almost strange to smell him unmixed when he returned from New York."

"Right. So, uh, now that's out of the way." She turns her attention back to Cora and Malia, who remain unmoved by her anger. "Don't touch him again."

"We won't." Malia concedes. 

"Unless he hurts you again."

" _No,_ because _I_ will deal with him." She sips the drink in her hand, staring at them. "I'm a lot better at being subtle than you are, and I won't get caught."

Peter materializes behind them and runs his hand through her hair. "That's why you're my favourite."

"That's just because you're devious." Derek glances up at his uncle.

"And what does it say about you that your two favourite people are both devious?" Peter raises an eyebrow. 

"We weren't trying to be subtle." Cora mutters. 

"Haven't you ever read _The Count of Monte Cristo_?" Stiles tilts her head to the side to Derek can nose up her neck. "There are ways of getting your revenge, letting the person know it's you getting the vengeance, and never facing consequences for it."

Talia reaches over and pats her knee. "See? It's better the way it happened."

"Are we ordering in tonight, or should I get started on dinner?" Peter asks. 

She checks her watch. "You can get started."

Peter leans over the back of the couch to scent Derek and Stiles as a welcome home, then saunters in to the kitchen. Jason joins him, and the two men get a lively conversation going about knives.

* * *

In the years that follow, Derek and Stiles make their life in LA. They move from their apartment into a condo, and Stiles begins her Masters. Derek finishes his Masters and picks up a job in his field, picking up a job as a civil engineer for the city. Laura and Aiden have two children two years apart - Vera and Kieran - and Malia and Cora move out to New York, following in Derek's footsteps. Both girls attend the same university, but for different degrees. 

It's some time before Stiles and Derek spend any serious amount of time back in Beacon Hills, despite their regular, if brief, visits. Their parents constantly comment that they look happy together, but they don't feel much different than they did. Peter just winks at them, asking after what university she's considering doing her PhD at. 

It's close to six years after she broke up with Scott when they run into each other again, at a little fair in town. 

| | | 

Laura had guilted them into coming with her and Aiden, since Vera and Kieran had been so excited to go. What that actually meant was one couple would track one child and the other would take care of the other. Thankfully, they'd been given Vera, who was excitable but obedient. Not to mention she just loved to ride on Derek's shoulders. 

"Wow, you have a kid."

Stiles turned to face the voice, finding Scott standing a little ways away from her, speaking before thinking. "No, Derek has her."

Scott blinks in confusion. "Uh, congratulations anyways. I didn't know Derek is trans."

"No, that's not- Derek's sister has kids and we got one of them to take care of. Derek's not trans, and we don't have any kids."

"Oh." Scott flushes. "That makes more sense. She looks a little old to be yours, with school and everything."

"Pfft, no shit, even if I wanted them."

Scott shuffles. "It's good to see you."

"After Cora and Malia beat the shit out of you? I can't see how."

Scott winces. "Well, that wasn't fun, but you're not responsible for what they did. I also kind of deserved it."

"Kind of?" She cocks an eyebrow. "How's Allison?"

"She's good. We broke up for a while after the thing between you and me came out, but we got back together. We might get married soon."

"Good for you, buddy. Hope it works out."

"Thanks. How's Derek?"

"He's good."

"I heard you did actually get together."

"Yup. It's awesome sleeping with your best friend - he already knows all my weird habits and gross past."

"Any marriage plans in your future?"

"Not right now." She shrugs. 

"I'm surprised he won't commit."

"It has nothing to do with commitment." She scowls. "He's loved me a hell of a lot longer than he's been having sex with me."

"Weird. Allison really wants to get married."

"Probably thinking it will keep you faithful." Scott winces. "I hope it works. Doesn't usually, but maybe she'll be the exception."

"Look, Stiles, I know I did the wrong thing when it came to you. I've had a lot of time to think about it. I was young and stupid, driven by insecurity and fear that shouldn't have had anything to do with you. You never made me doubt you once, and I shouldn't have."

"I'm glad you've grown up, but I'm pretty sure this doesn't count as an apology." She sighs. "You and I went our separate ways for a damn good reason. Let's not dig up old drama - I'm not interested in rekindling anything from before, even our friendship. So let's be civil when we see each other at events, and the rest of the time, we're strangers."

Scott opens his mouth like he wants to protest, but drops his head down with a heavy sigh. "I've missed you."

"That's unfortunate." She replies. "This is the consequence of your actions, buddy. I don't know what you want me to tell you."

"Maybe that you missed me too?"

"I don't." She answered flatly. 

"Oh."

"What did you expect me to say, Scott? When have you ever known me to forgive and forget, hmm?"

"Never." He answers meekly. 

"So what made you think you'd be any different?" She huffs. "We're adults now, Scott - not teenagers. Take the out for what it's worth and go."

He stares at her, gobsmacked, but has nothing else to say. She turns away from him and goes to meet up with Derek, just like the last time they spoke. Derek doesn't ask her any questions, just twines their fingers together and lets Vera drag them to the next stall that draws her attention. Scott watches them go, but Stiles stops thinking about him. If Allison is happy with him and he's happy with her, good for them - Stiles has got all she needs right next to her, and there's no need to tread old ground. 

She's already got a best friend. 


End file.
